South Africa's minimum wage will increase from the first of March 2020, since its inception last year. The minimum hourly wage, and the special wages for some categories of work, will all increase by just about 3.8%.

Guest: Matthew Parks

The South African Statistics Council has threatened to resign over the lack of funding. The Council which is an advisory body that endorses the releases of data by Stats SA, says if the national statistical agency does not receive more funding and fill frozen posts, it will resign. The Statistics Council has also added that If Stats SA cannot produce accurate official statistics, ratings agencies will punish South Africa, international investors will turn elsewhere, domestic business will lack reliable planning data, and a downward spiral will be inevitable.

Guest: Professor David Everatt, Chairperson of the South African Statistics Council

Members of Parliament are currently still debating President Cyril Ramaphosa's State-of-the-Nation Address, which he delivered last week. Yesterday the joint sitting of parliament descended into chaos when accusations of women abuse were flung around.

Guest: Prof Hlengiwe Mkhize

Is the Riotous Assemblies Act outdated? Following Julius Malema’s recent court challenge, we examine the Riotous Assemblies Act, Act No 17 of 1956. The Act in its current form prohibits gatherings in open-air public places if the Minister of Justice considers they could endanger the public peace.

Guest: Musa Gwebani, Head of Advocacy and Organising at Social Justice Coalition

About an hour ago, R2K picketed outside the National Communications Centre in Pretoria and outside the National Parliament in Cape Town where they highlighted the fact that the RICA law has failed to protect citizens’ constitutional right to privacy.

Guest: Thami Nkosi, Right2Know Countering Repression Focus Organiser

Reports coming from Lesotho suggest that the ruling party has given Prime Minister Tom Tabane an ultimatum to resign by Thursday after his wife was charged in connection with the murder of his late wife.

Guest: Rapelang Radebe, SABC Correspondent in Lesotho

Is the dignity and decorum of Parliament under threat? Today marks day two of the SONA Debate in Parliament and following last week’s unpleasant events that occurred during the State of the Nation Address - some MPs have warned that Parliament has descended into chaos and people were no longer taking it seriously.

Guest: Udo Froese, Political and Socio economic analyst

The latest diseases to worry people has been the corornavirus, and before that it was the outbreak of Ebola in Africa. These diseases get the focus they deserve because of the rate of their spread and the speed at which they can kill. However there are diseases that have been decimating the African population for a while with little effort from African governments to do something about them. The spread of hepatitis in the continent has made it the seventh killer. The International Network on Hepatitis among Substance Users (INHSU), an international organisation devoted to hepatitis C, in substance users, is hosting the 1st Regional Conference on Hepatitis Care in Substance Users in Cape Town to advocate to plan for the elimination of viral hepatitis for people who use drugs. For more we are now joined on the line by one of the Conference speakers...

Guest: Dr Andrew Schiebe, who is a technical advisor for TB/HIV Care and a researcher at the University of Pretoria

Police are searching for a security guard who allegedly walked away with R4 million at a cash-in-transit depot, at the Mall of Africa. It's been reported that, the security guard cut open two cash bags with a pair of scissors, before transferring the money into refuse bags.

Guest: Gauteng Police Spokesperson Kay Makhubele

Nicol Jansen from Agri SA joins us to talk about the role of agriculture in resolving South Africa’s power supply crisis. Agri SA believes it is important that the agricultural industry forms part of the solution to sustainable energy supply within the renewable energy framework.

Guest: Nicol Jansen, Chair: Agri SA’s Centre of Excellence – Economics & Trade